Tim Cost selected as next JU president

A former Jacksonville University baseball player who once pitched a no-hitter will now be in charge of leading the institution in 2013.

On Friday, the JU Board of Trustees named Tim Cost as its new president.

Cost, a member of the JU board since 2009, will succeed outgoing president Kerry Romesburg. His start date is July.

In a news release, JU trustee Ron Autrey said the board chose Cost, 53, because Cost “reflects what we believe will be best for the university in the long-term.”

“We are excited about the campus support for Tim,” Autrey said.

Cost, who currently lives in Philadelphia, is a consultant for PepsiCo.

The 1981 JU graduate, who holds a MBA degree from the University of Rochester, has more than 30 years of senior executive experience at Kodak, Bristol-Myers Squibb and ARAMARK.

“The first thing I plan to do is listen,” Cost said Friday, adding that the listening tour will include faculty, staff and students. “Once one enters a job like this, it’s paramount that you not come in and lay down a template for what you think will work.”

Cost’s selection ends a six-month presidential search for the private university. JU trustees carried out most of the selection process out of the public’s view.

JU received more than 80 original applicants, but it wasn’t until this month that the public learned of the three finalists vying for the job.

Earlier this year, the trustees determined that they wanted a president with strong fund-raising skills, a passion for liberal arts education and a person who is committed to forging partnerships with other Duval County organizations.

JU brought Cost and two other finalists to campus this month so that the public could pose questions and meet the candidates. Mayor Alvin Brown, a JU alumnus, attended two of the community receptions.

Cost is a Syracuse, N.Y., native who first heard of JU in 1970-71, when NBA Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore led the Dolphins to the NCAA championship game.

In 1976, he was a junior in Syracuse and began researching the country’s top baseball schools, hoping to escape harsh winters in New York. The University of Miami, Florida and Florida State were all on Cost’s short list, but JU offered a ranked baseball program and a small, cozy campus.

Cost contacted the school, and JU recruiters came to see Cost play in New York. After the visit, JU offered Cost a scholarship to pitch for the Dolphins starting in the fall of 1977.

Cost played all four years at JU but was not drafted by the Major Leagues.

Labeled on campus as the non-traditional candidate because he doesn’t come from academia, Cost noted during his reception that because he’s an alumnus he has historical knowledge of JU and he’s been a long-time investor.

When he becomes the president, Cost said he will draw leadership inspiration from past JU presidents Romesburg and Fran Kinney.

“I’ve learned a lot from them and the way they work with the faculty here,” Cost said.

If the JU president job advertisement is any indication, Cost won’t inherit a 3,700-student university that wants to remain at its current state. Going forward, JU trustees have said they want a new president who will address the university’s need for more space for science programs. Trustees would also like Cost to increase enrollment, beef up the endowment and re-energize alumni involvement.

JU’s endowment currently sits at $35 million.

Romesburg in a statement called Cost “a well-qualified leader.”

“As a trustee, he has been an excellent fundraiser and ambassador for campus,” Romesburg said.

Cost said the JU board will have someone in the wing to take over his trustee spot before July 2013.

Cost and his wife Stephanie plan to house hunt in Jacksonville in the beginning of 2013.